Background noise compensation in a telephone network

ABSTRACT

An automated method for modifying a speech signal in a telephone network by applying a gain factor which is a function of the level of background noise at a given destination, and transmitting the modified speech signal to the destination. The gain applied may be a function of both the background noise level and the original speech signal. Either a linear or a non-linear (e.g., compressed) amplification of the original speech signal may be performed, where a compressed amplification results in the higher level portions of the speech signal being amplified by a smaller gain factor than lower level portions. The speech signal may be separated into a plurality of subbands, each resultant subband signal being individually modified in accordance with the present invention. In this case, each subband speech signal is amplified by a gain factor based on a corresponding subband noise signal, generated by separating the background noise signal into a corresponding plurality of subbands. The individual modified subband signals may then be combined to form the resultant modified speech signal.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/175,095 filed Dec. 29,1993.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The subject matter of this application is related to the currentlypending U.S. Patent application of J. B. Allen and D. J. Youtkusentitled "Background Noise Compensation in a Telephone Set, Ser. No.08/443,512, filed on even date herewith and assigned to the assignee ofthe present invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field oftelecommunications and specifically to the problem of using a telephonenetwork to communicate with a party located in a noisy environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a person communicates over a telephone network while located in anoisy environment, such as a noisy room, an airport, a car, a streetcorner or a restaurant, it can often be difficult to hear the personspeaking at the other end (i.e., the "far-end") of the connection overthe background noise present at the listener's location (i.e., the"near-end" or the "destination"). In some cases, due to the variabilityof human speech, the far-end speaker's voice is sometimes intelligibleover the near-end background noise and sometimes unintelligible.Moreover, the noise level at the near-end may itself vary over time,making the far-end speaker's voice level at times adequate and at timesinadequate.

Although terminal telephone equipment sometimes provides for control ofthe volume level of the telephone loudspeaker (i.e., the earpiece), suchcontrol is often unavailable. Moreover, manual adjustment of a volumecontrol by the listener is undesirable since, as the background noiselevel changes, the user will want to readjust the manual volume controlin an attempt to maintain a preferred listening level. Generally, it islikely to be considered more desirable to provide an automatic (i.e.,adaptive) control mechanism, rather than requiring the listener first todetermine the existence of the problem and then to take action byadjusting a manual volume control. One solution which attempts toaddress this problem has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,565,issued on May 9, 1989 to Robert M. Goldberg, which discloses a telephonewith an automated volume control whose gain is a function of the levelof the background noise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

We have recognized that the use of either conventional manual volumecontrols or an automatic mechanism such as that disclosed in theabove-cited U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,565 fails to adequately solve thebackground noise problem. In particular, these approaches fail torecognize the fact that by amplifying the signal which supplies thehandset receiver (i.e., the loudspeaker), the side tone is alsoamplified. (The side tone is a well-known feed-through effect in atelephone. A portion of the input signal from the handsettransmitter--i.e., the microphone--is mixed with the far-end speechsignal received from the network. The resultant, combined signal is thensupplied to the handset loudspeaker.) Since the side tone contains thebackground noise, itself, the background noise is, disadvantageously,amplified concurrently with the far-end speech signal whenever such avolume control (either manual or automatic) is used to amplify thesignal which supplies the handset receiver. By amplifying both thespeech signal and the noise together, the degrading effect of the noisecan actually become worse because of the properties of the human ear.

Moreover, the use of either conventional manual volume controls or theautomatic mechanism disclosed in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,565requires the use of specialized telephone terminal equipment. We haverecognized that since there are millions of conventional telephone sets(without any such controls) presently in use, it is highly desirablethat a mechanism which compensates for the presence of background noisebe provided without requiring such specialized equipment.

In accordance with the present invention, background noise compensationis provided within a telephone network. In this manner, the far-endspeech signal may, advantageously, be amplified as a function of thebackground noise without simultaneously amplifying the side tone.Moreover, the benefits of the invention are thereby provided to allusers of the network, without any need to replace existing terminaltelephone equipment with specialized equipment. As used herein, the term"telephone network" is intended to include conventional terrestrialtelephone networks (local or long distance), wireless (includingcellular) communication networks, radio transmission, satellitetransmission, microwave transmission, fiber optic links, etc., or anycombination of any of these transmission networks.

Specifically, a modified speech signal is produced from an originalspeech signal within a telephone network destined for a givendestination. The original speech signal is amplified by a gain factor toproduce the modified speech signal. The gain factor is a function of areceived signal indicative of the background noise at the destination.The modified signal is then communicated through the network to thedestination.

The gain factor may be a function of the level of the background noise,or it may be a function of both the level of the background noise andthe level of the original (i.e., the far-end) speech signal. Themodified speech signal may comprise a linear amplification of theoriginal speech signal or it may comprise an amplified and "compressed"version of the original speech signal. By "compressed" it is meant thatthe higher level portions of the original signal are amplified by asmaller gain factor than are the lower level portions.

In accordance with one illustrative embodiment, the original speechsignal may be separated into a plurality of subbands, and each resultantsubband signal may be individually modified (e.g., amplified) inaccordance with the technique of the present invention. In particular,these original subband speech signals may be amplified by a gain factorwhich is a function of a corresponding subband-noise-indicative signal.Such subband-noise-indicative signals may be generated by separating thesignal indicative of the background noise into a corresponding pluralityof subbands. The individual modified subband signals may then becombined to form the resultant modified speech signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a telephone network which includes a noise compensationsystem in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a system-level diagram of a broadband-based illustrativeembodiment of a noise compensation system in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative implementation of the noise levelestimation unit of the system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative implementation of the gain computation unitof the system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a graph which shows a compressor gain which may be applied tothe original speech signal by the signal boost unit of the system ofFIG. 2 applying compressed amplification.

FIG. 6 is a graph of the corresponding transfer function for theillustrative signal boost unit which results from applying the gainshown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative implementation of the signal boost unit ofan embodiment of the system of FIG. 2 applying a compressedamplification as shown in the graphs of FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative illustrative implementation of the gaincomputation unit of FIG. 2 for use in an embodiment applying compressedamplification in an alternative manner.

FIG. 9 shows a system-level diagram of a multiband-based illustrativeembodiment of the present invention in which noise compensation isperformed in individual subbands.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Introduction

The present invention improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of afar-end speaker's speech in the near-end listener's ear when thenear-end listener is using a telephone in a noisy environment. The levelof the noise in the ear of the near-end listener can be estimated fromthe signal levels picked up by the transmitter (microphone) in thenear-end listener's handset. Based on these levels, the original speechsignal generated by the far-end speaker may be modified within thetelephone network by being amplified by a variable gain factor so as toprovide a more intelligible signal to the listener. This modificationmay advantageously also be a function of the level of the originalspeech signal itself. For example, the speech power level (i.e., a"long-term" average level of the original speech signal) may beincorporated into the determination of the gain factor. In this manner,relatively quiet signals may be boosted (i.e., amplified) by a largergain factor than relatively loud signals.

Moreover, the modification of the speech signal may comprise either alinear amplification or a non-linear, (illustratively) compressed,amplification. Compressed amplification, in particular, boosts loudportions of the original speech signal by a lesser amount (i.e., with asmaller gain factor) than quiet portions. Thus, it is possible in thismanner to, on a short-term basis, boost the signals which fall below thebackground noise level without boosting the signals which are alreadysignificantly above the background noise level. Simple linearamplification, by contrast, boosts all signal levels by an equal amount.When used to boost low-level signals above the background noise, linearamplification can in some circumstances result in distortion, since thehigher level signals (already above the noise) could receive excessiveamplification.

FIG. 1 shows a telephone network which includes a noise compensationsystem embodying the principles of the present invention. A far-endspeaker provides an original speech signal through microphone 11m (oftelephone handset 11h) of conventional far-end telephone 11. (Telephonehandset 11h also includes loudspeaker 11s and telephone 11 also includesdeskset 11d.) This original speech signal, after being processed bytelephone network 12 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention, is transmitted to a near-end listener using conventionalnear-end telephone 13. Telephone 13 comprises deskset 13d and handset13h. Loudspeaker 17 represents the presence of background noise at thenear-end location.

Noise compensation system 14, contained within telephone network 12,receives a noise-indicative signal from near-end telephone 13 (providedby microphone 13m contained in handset 13h). This noise-indicativesignal includes the background noise in the near-end environment, andmay further include any speech provided to telephone 13 by the near-endlistener. Noise compensation system 14 also receives the original speechsignal from the far-end speaker (provided by far-end telephone 11).

In summary, noise compensation system 14 first determines the level ofbackground noise by recognizing and removing any (near-end) speechcomponent from the noise-indicative signal. Next, noise compensationsystem 14 boosts the original speech signal based on the determinedbackground noise level to produce a modified speech signal. The modifiedspeech signal is then transmitted to near-end telephone 13 for broadcastthrough loudspeaker 13s contained in handset 13h. By including noisecompensation system 14 within telephone network 12, the benefits ofnoise compensation may be obtained with use of conventional terminaltelephone equipment.

FIG. 1 also shows telephone switches 15f and 15n, which connect tofar-end telephone 11 and near-end telephone 13, respectively. Switches15f and 15n comprise conventional telephone switching devices. FIG. 1further shows conventional hybrids 16f and 16n, which compriseconventional circuits for converting between standard two-wire andfour-wire telephone lines.

An Illustrative Broadband Implementation with Linear Amplification

FIG. 2 shows a system-level diagram of a broadband-based illustrativeembodiment of noise compensation system 14. Inputs to the system includethe original speech signal and the noise-indicative signal, which mayfurther include speech provided by the near-end listener. The systemproduces a modified speech signal for improved intelligibility asoutput. All of the signals described with reference to the illustrativeembodiment present herein are presumed to be in digital form.

Based on the noise-indicative signal, noise level estimation 22determines the "noise floor" and outputs a signal representing thatvalue. In particular, this signal represents the noise level over afirst predetermined period of time. By setting this first predeterminedperiod to a relatively short value (e.g., 250 milliseconds or less), thedetermined noise floor will substantially follow changing levels ofbackground noise in the near-end environment. Specifically, the noisefloor signal represents a short-term (e.g., 250 milliseconds) minimumvalue of an "exponentionally mapped past average" signal, and can begenerated using known techniques. An illustrative implementation ofnoise level estimation 22 is shown in FIG. 3 and described below.

Gain computation 24 produces a gain signal, GAIN, whose value isproportional to the noise floor signal and inversely proportional to anaverage speech power level signal. This gain signal represents a gainfactor (i.e., a multiplicative factor) by which the original speechsignal may be amplified. The average speech power level signal isgenerated by speech power estimation 23, and represents the averagelevel of the original speech signal over a second predetermined periodof time. That is, the average speech power level measures the "energy"level of the speech signal. Providing such a gain dependence on thefar-end speech level allows relatively quiet calls to receive asufficient boost for a given background noise level, while preventingloud calls from being over-boosted. By setting the second predeterminedperiod to a relatively long value (e.g., one second), it can morereadily be determined whether the current far-end speech comprises aloud or soft segment of the call. Thus, the average speech power levelsignal represents a long-term average level. Speech power estimation 23may be implemented by conventional signal energy estimation techniques.An illustrative implementation of gain computation 24 is shown in FIG. 4and described below.

The gain signal and the original speech signal are provided to signalboost 25 which produces the modified speech signal. Where only linearamplification is desired, signal boost 25 may comprise a conventionalamplifier (i.e., a multiplier). In this case, the original speech signalis amplified by a gain factor equal to the value of the gain signal,GAIN. Where, on the other hand, compressed amplification is desired,signal boost 25 may comprise circuitry (or procedural code) whichamplifies the original speech signal by a gain factor less than or equalto the value of the gain signal, wherein the gain factor further dependson the level of the original speech signal itself. That is, the gainsignal, GAIN, represents the maximum gain which will be applied by the"compressor." An illustrative implementation of signal boost 25providing compression is shown in FIG. 7 and described below.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative implementation of noise level estimation 22of the system of FIG. 2. First, high pass filter (HPF) 31 removes DCfrom the input signal. It may be conventionally implemented as a firstorder recursive digital filter having a cutoff frequency of, forexample, 20 Hz, and may be based on a standard telephony samplingfrequency of 8 kHz. Absolute value block (ABS) 32 computes the magnitudeof the sample and is also of conventional design. Low pass filter (LPF)33 computes the exponentially mapped past average (EMP). As describedabove, the exponentially mapped past average comprises an exponentiallyweighted average value of the noise level. Low pass filter 33 is also ofconventional design and may illustratively be implemented as a firstorder recursive digital filter having the transfer functiony(n)=(1-β)x(n)+βy(n-1), where β=e^(-T/)τ, with T a sampling period and τa time constant. Illustratively, T=0.125 ms and τ=16 ms.

Minimum sample latch (MIN) 34 stores the minimum value of EMP over thefirst predetermined time period (e.g., 250 milliseconds). The outputsignal of latch 34, MEMP, therefore represents the short-term minimum ofthe exponentionally mapped past average, and thus represents theshort-term minimum value of the averaged noise-indicative signal. Thissignal is subsequently used to represent the noise floor over whichfar-end speech should be boosted. In a corresponding manner, maximumsample latch (MAX) 35 stores the maximum value of EMP over the samepredetermined period. The output signal of latch 35, PEMP, thereforerepresents the short-term peak of the exponentionally mapped pastaverage, and thus represents the short-term peak value of the averagednoise-indicative signal. Latches 34 and 35 may be implemented byconventional digital comparators, selectors and storage devices, withthe storage devices reset at the start of each cycle of thepredetermined time period.

Speech detector and noise floor estimator 36 generates the noise floorsignal output based on signals MEMP and PEMP. Specifically, it performstwo functions. First, it is determined whether the noise-indicativesignal presently includes only noise or whether it presently includesspeech as well. This question may be resolved by conventionaltechniques, such as those used in the implementation of conventionalspeakerphones. For example, the quotient of PEMP (representing theshort-term peak value of the noise-indicative signal) divided by MEMP(representing the short-term minimum value of the noise-indicativesignal) may be compared with a predetermined threshold. The larger thisquotient, the larger the variability in the level of the input signal.If the level of the input signal is sufficiently variable within thefirst predetermined time period, it is presumed that speech is present.(Note that the variation in signal level of speech typically exceedsthat of background noise.)

Second, speech detector and noise floor estimator 36 sets the outputnoise floor signal to a value which represents the estimated level ofthe noise floor. If it is determined that speech is not present, thenoise floor signal is set to MEMP, the short-term minimum value of thenoise-indicative signal. Otherwise, the noise floor signal remainsunchanged--that is, the previous value is maintained. In this manner,when the presence of speech makes it difficult to determine the actualpresent level of background noise, it is presumed that the noise levelhas not changed since the previous period.

In one alternative embodiment, the value of PEMP alone may be comparedwith a predetermined threshold (rather than using the quotient of PEMPdivided by MEMP), since speech is generally of a significantly higherintensity than is background noise. And in a second alternativeembodiment, speech detection may be bypassed altogether, on theassumption that the far-end speaker will not be speaking at the sametime that the near-end listener is speaking. In other words, we may notcare what the "noise floor" is determined to be during periods when thenear-end listener is speaking. In this second alternative embodiment,maximum sample latch 35 and speech detector and noise floor estimator 36may be removed from noise level estimation 22 of FIG. 3, and the outputof minimum sample latch 34 (i.e, signal MEMP) may be used directly asthe noise floor signal output of noise level estimation 22.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative implementation of gain computation 24 ofthe system of FIG. 2. The gain signal is generated based on the noisefloor signal from noise level estimation 22 and on the average speechpower level signal from speech power estimation 23. Specifically, thecomputed gain is advantageously proportional to the noise floor andinversely proportional to the average speech power level. Moreover, thegain is never less than one (i.e., the original speech signal is neverattenuated) nor is it ever more than a maximum specified value.

First, amplifier 41 multiplies the noise floor by a noise scale factor.This noise scale factor is set to an appropriate value so that theoutput signal of amplifier 41, which is representative of a gain factor,is of the appropriate magnitude. In particular, the noise scale factoracts as a "sensitivity" control--a smaller scale factor will result inmore gain being applied for a given level of background noise. Themagnitude of this signal may be advantageously set to that gain factorwhich will boost the lowest far-end speech levels by an appropriateamount to overcome the noise level. For example, the noise scale factormay illustratively be set to a fractional value between zero and one,such as 0.4.

Next, minimizer (MIN) 42 compares the gain factor output by amplifier 41to a maximum permitted gain factor to ensure that the system does notattempt to apply an excessive gain factor to the original speech signal.For example, the maximum permitted gain factor may illustratively be setto 5.6 (i.e., 15 dB). Maximizer (MAX) 43 then ensures that the resultantgain factor is in no case less than one, so that the original speechsignal is never attenuated.

Divider 44 and minimizer (MIN) 45 determine an additional multiplicativefactor to be incorporated in the gain computation so that the resultantgain will be inversely proportional to the average speech power level asprovided by speech power estimation 23. Divider 44 computes the quotientof a minimum far-end speech level divided by the average speech powerlevel for use as this additional multiplicative factor. The minimumspeech level represents the minimum level which is to be consideredactual far-end speech, as distinguished from mere background noiseduring a period of silence by the far-end speaker. For example, theminimum speech level may illustratively be set to a value representing-30 dBm. Minimizer 45 then ensures that this multiplicative factor doesnot exceed one. In this manner, the gain factor is not increased as thefar-end speech level goes below the minimum, so that far-end backgroundnoise is not over-boosted (i.e., not boosted more than the quietestspeech).

Amplifier 46 multiplies the gain factor generated by amplifier 41(through minimizer 42 and maximizer 43) by the additional multiplicativefactor from divider 44 (through minimizer 45). Finally, maximizer (MAX)47 ensures that the final gain factor is not less than one, so that theoriginal speech signal is never attenuated. Thus, the resultant gainfactor, GAIN, is proportional to the noise floor level and inverselyproportional to the average speech power level, but neither less thanone nor more than the specified maximum.

An Illustrative Broadband Implementation with Compressed Amplification

As described above, the technique of compressed amplification results inthe application of more gain to lower energy signals than to higherenergy signals. This helps to compensate for the listener's reduceddynamic range of hearing and undue growth of loudness which results fromthe presence of surrounding noise. Since lower energy signals tend to bemasked by noise more than higher energy signals, the higher energysignals require less amplification. Moreover, this compression avoidsdistorting the speech by avoiding over-amplification of the high energysignals. Thus, the speech intelligibility is increased without theunwanted side effect of over-amplifying those sounds which are alreadysufficiently loud.

FIG. 5 is a graph which shows a compressor gain which may be applied tothe original speech signal by the signal boost unit of an illustrativeembodiment of the system of FIG. 2 applying compressed amplification.FIG. 6 is a graph which shows the corresponding transfer function forthe illustrative signal boost unit which results from applying the gainshown in FIG. 5. As shown, the gain (in decibels, or dB) to be appliedvaries from GL, a predetermined "low-level" gain which is applied to thelowest energy signals, down through GH, a "high-level" gain, to no gainat all (i.e., 0 dB) at the highest energy signals. The low-level gain,GL, may be based on the output of gain computation 24, GAIN, as shown inFIG. 4 and described above. In particular, where GAIN reflects a maximumgain factor and GL reflects a gain in decibels, it can be readily seenthat GL=20 log (GAIN). Note from the graphs of FIGS. 5 and 6 that thegain advantageously remains non-negative, thus ensuring that the signalis never attenuated.

The compressor "breakpoint," BK, is an original speech signal levelthreshold below which the gain applied remains constant. That is,signals below BK receive a linear boost while only those above BK are infact compressed. By keeping the gain applied constant below thisthreshold, very low level signals, which likely represent onlybackground noise at the far end (rather than actual far-end speech),will not be excessively amplified (i.e., will not be boosted more thanthe lowest level speech signals), while low level speech signals willstill receive sufficient boost. P represents a point at which ahigh-level gain, GH, may be defined. Both the compressor breakpoint BKand the point P may be advantageously chosen so that most of the dynamicrange of the original speech signal falls between BK and P. Thus, thelow-level gain GL will be applied to the lowest level speech signals,while the high-level gain, GH, will be applied to the highest levelspeech signals. For example, BK may be set at the minimum level whichrepresents actual speech (as opposed to far-end background noise). P,for example, may be set at a speech level which is exceeded only 10% ofthe time. Alternatively, since speech typically has an energydistribution that ranges over about 30 dB, either BK or P may be chosenas indicated above, and then the other parameter may be set 30 dB higheror lower, respectively.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative implementation of the signal boost unit ofthe embodiment of the system of FIG. 2 applying a compressedamplification as shown in the graphs of FIGS. 5 and 6. The illustrativeimplementation comprises absolute value block (ABS) 50, peak detector51, logarithm block (LOG) 52, multiplier 53, adder 54, minimizer (MIN)55, adder 56, maximizer (MAX) 57, exponentiator (EXP) 58 and multiplier59. As can be seen from the presence of logarithm block 52 andexponentiator 58, the computation of the compressed gain is primarilyperformed in the logarithmic domain. All of the individual componentsare of conventional design.

Specifically, absolute value block 50 computes the magnitude of thesample. Peak detector 51 controls the attack and release times of thecompressor. For example, peak detector 51 may be advantageously designedso as to provide instantaneous attack but syllabic release. Aninstantaneous attack time enables the compressor gain to be reducedinstantaneously if the input signal level suddenly rises. Therefore,sudden, loud noises are prevented from being over-amplified, thusavoiding causing pain or injury to the listener's ear. The compressorgain increases, however, at a rate dependent on the release timeconstant. The release time constant may be set, for example, to 16milliseconds (or less) to respond to the fast energy changes associatedwith the phonemes of spoken language. Specifically, if x(n) representsthe n'th input sample to peak detector 51 and y(n) represents the n'thoutput sample therefrom, peak detector 51 may be implemented by settingy(n)=x(n) if x(n)>y(n-1), and otherwise setting y(n)=βy(n-1), whereβ=e^(-T/)τ, with T set equal to the sampling period (e.g., 0.125milliseconds for telephony) and τ set equal to the release time constant(e.g., 25 milliseconds).

Logarithm block 52 converts the output signal of peak detector 51 intothe logarithmic domain by taking the logarithm of the digital sample.Multiplier 53, adder 54 and minimizer 55 compute the relative reductionin gain which is to result from the compression. That is, the amount bywhich the resultant gain will be reduced from the low-level gain, GL,(which represents the maximum gain) is calculated by these components.Specifically, multiplier 53 multiplies the signal by the amount (k-1),where k is the reciprocal of the "compression ratio." The compressionratio, CR, represents the slope of the compressor gain curve as shown inFIG. 6, and may be easily calculated from the parmeters BK, P, GL and GH(as defined above) as CR=1/k=(P-BK)(P-BK+GH-GL). Adder 54 then adds the(negative) amount--(k-1) log (bk) to the result from multiplier 53,where bk is the compressor breakpoint (i.e., BK) expressed as anabsolute level on a linear scale. For example, if the speech signalmagnitudes are in the range [0,R] on a linear scale and it is desiredthat the compressor breakpoint be placed a predetermined amount×dB downfrom R, then bk=R×10.sup.(-x/20). Minimizer 55 limits the result of theabove computation to a value less than or equal to zero so that thefinal resultant compressed gain will never exceed the low-level gain,GL.

Adder 56 adds in the amount gl, which is the logarithm of the gain whichis introduced by the compressor at all levels less than bk (i.e., thelow-level gain). Thus, gl=log (GAIN)=GL/20. Maximizer 57 ensures thatthe final result (as computed in the logarithmic domain) remains greaterthan or equal to zero to ensure that the original speech signal is neverattenuated. Exponentiator 58 converts the computed compressed gain backout of the logarithmic domain to produce the final gain factor (i.e.,the compressed gain). Finally, multiplier 59 applies this(multiplicative) gain factor to the original speech signal to producethe modified speech signal.

An Alternative Illustrative Implementation of Compressed Amplification

FIG. 8 shows an alternative illustrative implementation of the gaincomputation unit of FIG. 2 for applying compressed amplification in adifferent manner than that described above. In gain computation 24'shown herein, the low-level gain, GL, of the compressor of signal boost25 is varied only as a function of the background noise level (and notbased on the average speech power level), while the high-level gain, GH,is varied as a function of the average speech power level. That is, thelow-level gain is proportional (only) to the noise floor, and thehigh-level gain is inversely proportional (only) to the average speechpower level. Thus, gain computation 24' produces an output (GAIN)comprising two "independent" gain factors, both of which are supplied tosignal boost 25.

For example, if P is chosen to be set at a speech level which isexceeded only 10% of the time as suggested above, the result of thisalternative implementation is that the effect of varying the low-levelgain becomes essentially orthogonal to the effect of varying thehigh-level gain. In particular, varying the low-level gain will affectthe intelligibility of the speech but the loudness will be relativelyunaffected if the high-level gain remains constant. On the other hand,varying the high-level gain will affect the loudness of the speech butthe intelligibility will be relatively unaffected if the low-level gainremains constant. Thus, the low-level gain becomes an intelligibility"control" and the high-level gain becomes a loudness "control."Advantageously, therefore, the illustrative implementation describedherein increases the low-level gain as the background noise increases,while it increases the high-level gain as the far-end speech leveldecreases.

Specifically, in the alternative implementation of FIG. 8, amplifier 41,minimizer (MIN) 42 and maximizer (MAX) 43 produce a gain factorproportional to the noise floor in an analogous manner to thecorresponding components of the implementation shown in FIG. 4. The sameparameters--a noise scale factor and a maximum permitted gainfactor--are employed in the same manner. The resultant signal in thiscase, however, is the final low-level gain factor to be provided to thecompressor of signal boost 25.

Divider 44 and minimizer (MIN) 45 determine an alternative gain factor(inversely proportional to the average speech power level), also in ananalogous manner to the corresponding components of the implementationshown in FIG. 4. Multiplier 48 then multiplies this factor (which isless than or equal to one) by a parameter representing the maximumpermitted high-level gain factor to produce the high-level gain factorto be provided to the compressor of signal boost 25. For example, themaximum permitted high-level gain factor may advantageously be set tothe low-level gain factor. Maximizer 49, like maximizer 43, ensures thatthe resultant gain factor is at least one, so that the original speechsignal is never attenuated.

With the resultant gain factors as produced by gain computation 24',signal boost 25 may be implemented as shown in FIG. 7 and describedabove. In particular, the compression ratio, CR, may be readily computedas described above based on the low-level and high-level gain factorsgenerated by gain computation 24'. The compressed gain may then becomputed based on the values of k (1/CR), bk and gl (based in turn onthe low-level gain factor) as described above.

An Illustrative Multiband Implementation

FIG. 9 shows a system-level diagram of a multiband-based illustrativeembodiment of the present invention in which noise compensation isperformed in individual (frequency) subbands. By performing noisecompensation independently in distinct subbands, the noise energy in onefrequency band will not affect the gain applied to the original speechsignal at other frequencies. For example, high energy, low frequencycomponents in the original speech signal will advantageously not affectthe gain applied to the high frequency components of the signal. Ingeneral, multiband-based noise compensation permits better adaptation tothe spectral characteristics of the background noise.

The structure and operation of the illustrative multiband systemcorresponds generally to that of the broadband system of FIG. 2.However, each of the processes performed by the broadband system of FIG.2 is performed by the multiband system of FIG. 9 in a plurality ofindependent subbands. In particular, each of the four components shownin FIG. 2 may be replaced by a plurality of corresponding "copies" ofthe given component, each of which operates on one of the n subbandsinto which each of the input signals is separated. Since subband-basedprocessing of speech and audio signals is well known, the followingdescription provides an overview of the multiband implementation of FIG.9.

Specifically, multiband noise compensation system 14' comprises analysisfilter banks 61 and 62, noise level estimation 22', speech powerestimation 23', gain computation 24', and signal boost 25' and adder 63.(Units which correspond to those of the broadband system of FIG. 2 havebeen assigned the same numbers with an added "prime" mark.) Each of thetwo input signals--the noise-indicative signal and the original speechsignal--are separated into a corresponding set of n subband signals byanalysis filter banks 61 and 62 in a conventional manner.Advantageously, these two filter banks are identical so that the twosignals are separated into corresponding sets of subband signals havingexactly the same frequency band structure.

Noise level estimation 22' comprises subband noise level estimation22-1, . . . 22-n; speech power estimation 23' comprises subband speechpower estimation 23-1, . . . 23-n; gain computation 24' comprisessubband gain computation 24-1, . . . 24-n; and signal boost 25'comprises subband signal boost 25-1, . . . 25-n. Each corresponding setof components 22-i, 23-i, 24-i and 25-i (corresponding to the i'thsubband) have a corresponding internal structure and operate in ananalogous manner to components 22, 23, 24 and 25 of broadband noisecompensation system 14 of FIG. 2. After the speech signal as dividedinto subbands has been appropriately modified in each of these subbands(by subband signal boost 25-1, . . . 25-n), adder 63 combines theresultant modified subband speech signals to produce the final modifiedspeech signal for use at the destination. Adder 63 is of conventionaldesign.

In an alternative multiband embodiment, speech power estimation is notperformed in subbands. In this case, speech power estimation 23 of thebroadband system of FIG. 2 may be used in place of speech powerestimation 23', providing its output signal (average speech power level)to each of the subband gain computation components (24-1, . . . 24-n).That is, this alternate embodiment provides gain factors in each subbandwhich are inversely proportional to the overall speech power level ofthe original speech signal as a whole, rather than to the power level ineach subband individually.

Although the individual subband components of multiband noisecompensation system 14' correspond to the components of noisecompensation system 14, the various parameters (e.g., the noise scalefactor, the maximum permitted gain factor, the minimum speech level,etc.) described in connection with noise compensation system 14 abovemay be advantageously assigned different values in the different subbandimplementations. For example, in a multiband compression system, therelease time of peak detector 51 in a higher frequency band may beadvantageously set lower than the release time for a corresponding peakdetector in a lower frequency band.

For clarity of explanation, the illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention is presented as comprising individual functional blocks. Thefunctions that these blocks represent may be provided through the use ofeither shared or dedicated hardware, including, but not limited to,hardware capable of executing software. For example, the functions ofprocessors presented in the various figures may be provided by a singleshared processor. (Use of the term "processor" should not be construedto refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software.)

Illustrative embodiments may comprise digital signal processor (DSP)hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software performing theoperations discussed below, and random access memory (RAM) for storingDSP results. Very large scale integration (VLSI) hardware embodiments,as well as custom VLSI circuitry in combination with a general purposeDSP circuit, may also be provided.

Although a number of specific embodiments of this invention have beenshown and described herein, it is to be understood that theseembodiments are merely illustrative of the many possible specificarrangements which can be devised in application of the principles ofthe invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised inaccordance with these principles by those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method of processing an original speech signal in atelephone network to produce a modified speech signal, the modifiedspeech signal for use at a destination having background noise thereat,the original speech signal being substantially free of the backgroundnoise, the method comprising the steps of:receiving from the destinationa background-noise-indicative signal indicative of the background noiseat the destination; applying a gain to the original speech signal toproduce the modified speech signal, wherein the gain is a function ofthe background-noise-indicative signal; and transmitting the modifiedspeech signal through the telephone network to the destination.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the background-noise-indicative signal ischaracterized by a time-varying signal level and wherein the gain is afunction of the signal level of the background-noise-indicative signalmeasured over a first predetermined time period.
 3. The method of claim1 wherein the gain is a further function of the original speech signal.4. The method of claim 3 wherein the gain is a further function of anenergy level of the original speech signal measured over a secondpredetermined time period.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the originalspeech signal is characterized by a time-varying signal level, whereinthe gain is a further function of the signal level of the originalspeech signal, and wherein the gain applied to the original speechsignal when it is at a first signal level is greater than the gainapplied to the original speech signal when it is at a second signallevel greater than said first signal level.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein the background-noise-indicative signal comprises anoise-and-speech-indicative signal indicative of both the backgroundnoise and speech, and wherein the step of applying the gain includes thestep of determining when said noise-and-speech-indicative signal doesnot include speech and determining the gain at such times.
 7. A methodfor use in providing a telephone network service comprising the stepsof:receiving an original speech signal for transmission to a destinationhaving background noise thereat, the original speech signal beingsubstantially free of the background noise; receiving from thedestination a background-noise-indicative signal indicative of thebackground noise at the destination; applying a gain to the originalspeech signal to produce a modified speech signal, wherein the gain is afunction of the background-noise-indicative signal; and transmitting themodified speech signal to the destination.
 8. The method of claim 7wherein the background-noise-indicative signal is characterized by atime-varying signal level, the method further comprising the step ofmeasuring the signal level of the background-noise-indicative signalover a first predetermined time period, wherein the gain is a functionof said measured signal level.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the gainis a further function of the original speech signal.
 10. The method ofclaim 9 further comprising the step of determining an energy level ofthe original speech signal measured over a second predetermined timeperiod, wherein the gain is a further function of said energy level. 11.The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of determining thegain, wherein the original speech signal is characterized by atime-varying signal level, wherein the gain is a further function of thesignal level of the original speech signal, and wherein the gain appliedto the original speech signal when it is at a first signal level isgreater than the gain applied to the original speech signal when it isat a second signal level greater than said first signal level.
 12. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the background-noise-indicative signalcomprises a noise-and-speech-indicative signal indicative of both thebackground noise and speech, and wherein the step of applying the gainincludes the step of determining when said noise-and-speech-indicativesignal does not include speech and determining the gain at such times.13. A method of processing an original speech signal in a telephonenetwork to produce a modified speech signal, the modified speech signalfor use by a telephone set at a destination having background noisethereat, the original speech signal being substantially free of thebackground noise, the telephone set including means for receiving themodified speech signal from the telephone network and means for adding aside tone to the received signal, the method comprising the stepsof:receiving from the destination a background-noise-indicative signalindicative of the background noise at the destination; applying a gainto the original speech signal to produce the modified speech signal,wherein the gain is a function of the background-noise-indicativesignal; and transmitting the modified speech signal through thetelephone network to the telephone set at the destination, whereby thegain is applied to the original speech signal to produce the modifiedspeech signal before the side tone is added thereto.
 14. The method ofclaim 13 wherein the background-noise-indicative signal is characterizedby a time-varying signal level and wherein the gain is a function of thesignal level of the background-noise-indicative signal measured over afirst predetermined time period.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein thegain is a further function of the original speech signal.
 16. The methodof claim 15 wherein the gain is a further function of an energy level ofthe original speech signal measured over a second predetermined timeperiod.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the original speech signal ischaracterized by a time-varying signal level, wherein the gain is afurther function of the signal level of the original speech signal, andwherein the gain applied to the original speech signal when it is at afirst signal level is greater than the gain applied to the originalspeech signal when it is at a second signal level greater than saidfirst signal level.
 18. The method of claim 13 wherein thebackground-noise-indicative signal comprises anoise-and-speech-indicative signal indicative of both the backgroundnoise and speech, and wherein the step of applying the gain includes thestep of determining when said noise-and-speech-indicative signal doesnot include speech and determining the gain at such times.